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Antiques on Elm celebrate 10-year anniversary

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Antiques on Elm – where nothing – and everything – is new. Courtesy Photo

MANCHESTER, NH – An antiques store that has become a central hub for the greater Manchester antique collectors scene celebrated its 10-year anniversary on April 1.

Antiques on Elm held its anniversary party and offered special anniversary sales on April 9 and 10. Hundreds of people showed up that weekend, according to founding partner Marti Jones. 

“It was crazy, crazy busy from the time we opened up until we closed,” Jones said. “We have a lot of dedicated customers. … But we also get a lot of new people all the time.”

Jones said the business has been thriving over the past decade and vendors have had their best years of sales since the start of the COVID pandemic. 

How it began: The original space in 2012,

“Maybe people felt safe coming into our facility because it’s not crowded,” Jones said. “I’ve heard from other shops too that are having banner years.”

Looking back, Jones said she can’t really think of any major challenges the shop faced since its founding.

Jones said she and six other partners started Antiques on Elm in 2012, shortly after another antiques business in Hooksett closed. After that store closed, Jones said “there wasn’t anything in the area.”

Antiques on Elm has 97 vendor booths and about 85 vendors.

Jones and the other founding partners were vendors at the Hooksett store, and they decided they wanted to start their own space to keep the antiquing scene alive in the Queen City area. 

In 2012, they found their current space at 321 Elm St., which had been vacant for some time after an outdoor recreation store closed. For the first five years, they hosted vendors in that initial 5,000-square-foot space. 

Then, after Marklynn Pools next door relocated in 2017, they leased the adjacent space and renovated and connected the building interiors, doubling their store footprint. They opened the new space almost five years to the day of their five-year anniversary on April 2, 2017.

“Within a couple months… we had it all filled up,” Jones said.

Antiques on Elm owners, from left, Monica Riley; Lita Hogan and Marti Jones.

They now have 97 vendor booths occupied by about 85 vendors. Each pays the shop a small monthly rent based on their square footage, and the vendors keep 100 percent of the profits from their sales.

During the initial years of the Manchester store, the founding partners transitioned to becoming vendors or retired from the business, leaving Jones the sole founding partner. 

About six years ago, Jones reached out to longtime vendors Lita Hogan and Monica Riley to see if they would be interested in partnering with her. They agreed and together they became the current triumvirate of co-owners.

Jones said Riley and Hogan are “great people to work with.”

The business has been successful for a number of reasons, according to Jones. 

While the inventory is constantly renewed with interesting items new to the store, Jones is fond of saying that “nothing is new in our business.” 

The original building.

Its location as an antiques destination without much nearby competition, and in the heart of a city with the state’s largest population also helps, Jones said. 

“Unlike other shops, we see a lot of young people,” she said. She attributed that to the city’s demographics and the presence of several high-tech employers. 

The diversity of products also allows them to always have something on hand to respond to ever-changing trends in the market; whether that be a sudden interest in old Pyrex dishware or vinyl records, they tend to have something on hand to meet the demand, according to Jones.

Jones recently retired from a 33-year career in federal government service and kept the antiques business afloat as a hobby. Similarly, she said Riley and Hogan also have full-time jobs when they aren’t manning the store.

For all three, it’s a labor of love. 

“It’s really a hobby,” Jones said. “It never felt like a job to me.”

Ribbon cutting.

Antiques on Elm is located at 321 Elm Street and is open seven days a week!


 


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About this Contributor

Ryan Lessard

Ryan Lessard is a freelance reporter.

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